• 300,000 people attend a pro-Palestinian protest in London, marking almost a year since the Gaza genocide began.
• After the invasion of Lebanon, pro-Israeli counterprotesters became smaller.
After the killings of 185,000 people in Gaza, the highest kill rate since the Rwanda genocide, with the genocide now expanding into Lebanon with little resistance from the international community, it becomes evident that protests show no signs of stopping.
According to The Palestinian Solidarity Watch, 300,000 people attended the most recent protest on Saturday, with police admitting the numbers were higher than previous recent protests.
This was the first national protest in London since the genocide expanded in Lebanon, while also marking almost a year since the genocide began on October 7.
Amidst the protest were high-profile figures, such as former Scottish first minister Hamza Yousuf, a Holocaust survivor, and once again, Batman.
Israeli counter protesters are fewer in number
A rough estimate of the number of counter-Israeli protesters by a bystander was about 50. The numbers had declined exponentially when compared to previous protests, presumably because even in the pro-Israel camp, it is becoming increasingly harder to defend Israel with the invasion of Lebanon and continuation of the genocide.
Protests, one of the many effective tools of pressure against the government
Although protests alone may not be enough to dissuade the government from continuing to allow weapon sales and intelligence to Israel, it is one of the many fonts that the government has to bear in its complicity in genocide.
Pro-Palestinian-related protests have cost the government more than £43 million, with police being heavily overstretched. The implications of the cost and effect will undoubtedly reach the echelons of power, creating one of many headaches for the Labour, Starmer-led government.
Most of the biggest protests in UK history have occurred since October 7 in support of the Palestinian people. The rise in number in the Saturday protest sends a clear message to the government that the Palestinian cause continues to be in the hearts and minds of the people and thus is a clear symbolic gesture that this Palestinian sentiment will not be let go or succumb to fatigue.
Kier Starmer is already lower on the opinion polls after his atrocious policy to scrap winter fuel payments to the elderly. It’s possible that as a way of garnering support amongst the population with his unpopular policies, he may be forced to try to scavenge what he can from the pro-Palestinian camp and potentially even the Muslim community.
